((Contains references to adult situations.))

It had been a long but exciting day, full of unexpected surprises, but now that Edward and Lisbeth had at last returned home to the house they shared there at Maple Grove, the reality of what they'd just done was finally starting to sink in. The excitement and nervousness of earlier that day was giving way to something deeper, warmer, truer and far more intimate, and yet, there were still some nervous jitters as if this first night as a married couple was different and somehow more important than any other they'd shared together so far.

It seemed strange to come back to Ivy Lodge; to know that, just a few hours ago, they had been sat together at that table, drinking from those cups, preparing for a quiet evening together. And yet here they were, married, both wearing the sign of that marriage on their fingers. Unsure what to do or say, Lis moved to tidy the remains of their forgotten tea from earlier - busy work, to keep her hands occupied even as she blushed over the night that was to come.

Edward busied himself tidying up the house and making sure all the doors were locked and the house was secure, though it seemed a bit silly as break-ins were almost unheard of at Maple Grove. Once that was done, he turned the lights out and made his way to the kitchen to help Lis clean up, feeling a little awkward and even shy now that they were alone, though he wasn't sure why. He was still wearing the suit Vicki had given him - she'd made it clear that the suit was a gift, not a loan. Without plans for a honeymoon, he assumed things would just go on as they had since they'd moved in together, though he thought she deserved something special. He quietly helped her clean up, unsure what to say or do now that they were alone, but thinking it was probably up to him to speak first. "I was thinking..." he started, as he wiped a cup clean and returned it to the cupboard.

They must have made for quite the sight, so impeccably dressed up for a night out together, quietly and nervously washing and drying, side by side in their kitchen. "Yes?" Lis looked up at him, hopeful that he was about to say something that could snap the odd sense of tension that seemed to have risen between them. It wasn't as though they had never been alone before, after all.

"Well..." he started, somewhat nervously. "Weddings are usually followed by honeymoons. Is there anywhere you'd like to go that you've never been?" he asked curiously. Money wasn't really a problem, and though he knew he shouldn't push himself too hard just yet, he wanted her to have a honeymoon to remember, not one spent tending to a sick husband.

She blinked, truly startled by the question. It had not occurred to her at all that they might have a honeymoon. "I ....it is not something I have ever considered," she admitted, moving to wipe her hands dry on the cloth he held. "I have never been anywhere but Caracas and here. But ....should a honeymoon not be somewhere we would both like to go, querido?"

"I suppose, but..." he trailed off a moment as he realized he wasn't really sure where he wanted to go or if he wanted to go anywhere at all. "I've never really had a vacation," he explained as he wiped a plate dry. "I've been away from home so long I haven't really thought about it much."

"Then is there not somewhere that you would like to go, Eduardo?" Lis asked him tenderly, capturing his hands to draw him closer, dark eyes seeking out blue with a curious smile. "It would not need to be a long time; we two are not so easily persuaded to enjoy laziness, I do not think. But a few days, maybe, together and away ....I do not see the harm in it."

He set the towel aside as she drew him to her, the task at hand forgotten for the moment. He looked a little lost in thought, never having really considered such a question before. "No, I think you're right. A few days away, alone, would do us both good." But where" The possibilities were endless really and weren't limited only to Rhy'Din or Earth. "There must be some place you've always wanted to go."

She shook her head, laughing a little at the destination in her mind. "You will think it silly," she ventured, shy of sharing this one place she'd ever thought of visiting but had never gathered the courage to go to alone. "But ....I would like to Spain, sometime. It would not matter where. My grandparents were born there, in Andalucia, and I have never seen it."

He doubted he'd find anything she might suggest silly and once she'd explained where she wanted to go and why, he was only too happy to be able to make that wish come true for her. "Spain," he mused aloud. It made sense that she'd want to go there, and he wasn't sure why he hadn't thought of it before. "I wonder what it's like there this time of year," he said, assuming they were going to remain in the present time. "It will take a few days to make the arrangements."

Lis' expression was a picture in amazed confusion. "But ....querido, surely it should be a place we both wish to see, not just myself," she pointed out, worried that he was trying to please her again when all he needed to do that was be with her.

"I can't think of anywhere I'd rather go than to Spain with you," he assured her with a soft smile. In truth, it wasn't a place he'd have ever considered before, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that she wanted to go there, and he wanted to be with her when she did.

She bit her lip, looking into his eyes for a long moment, searching out any hint that he was suppressing any wish of his own to fulfil hers. Seeing none, Lis' smile softened, and she leaned close into him, her lips finding his in a tender kiss. "Thank you, querido," she murmured to him, certain she would never stop thanking him as long as they lived.

There was nothing to thank him for really, and everything to thank her for. In a strange sort of way, she had saved his life - or at least, given him something to live for, something he had always wanted but had never been lucky enough to have. "No, thank you, querida," he murmured back, circling her nose with his. "Gracias," he repeated in her native tongue, knowing just enough Spanish to get by.

She smiled, nuzzling close to him. "Muy buena," was her soft compliment for his accent. "Soon you will speak like a native." Her hands slipped from his, easing about his waist beneath the hang of his new suit as she leaned into him, virtually on his eye level in the heels that so rarely came out of her closet. "Why did your cousin's wife ask if I was pregnant?"

His own arms slid around her waist as she leaned into him, frowning a little as he wasn't quite sure how to answer her question. "Some people seem to think that's the only reason for getting married, but I'm sure she was kidding." At least, he hoped so. He didn't really know Vicki very well, and he wasn't sure Jon even remembered him.

"It is no reason to think that, even if I were, our marriage would not last," she mused quietly, still very aware of the ring on her finger as she toed out of her shoes to rest more comfortably against him, losing the height that brought them close to eye level in favor of nestling closer to her husband.

It had been some time since he had done anything just for fun, but it seemed Edward was very capable of relaxing and having fun, given the right circumstances and the right person. He was very slowly, day by day, dropping his barriers and letting her see him for who he really was. He only hoped she would like what she saw as they grew to know each other better. By the time the song was through, whatever tension had built up between them seemed to have disappeared amidst the laughter and playfulness.

This, too, was a newer side of Lis, hinted at before in the sparkle that sometimes touched her eyes but never allowed to blossom until now. This was the teenager she had been before her father had chosen the wrong side; bright and carefree, filled with laughter rather than cares. That part of her was still inside, wrapped up in the older, more responsible woman she had grown into. Funny, that it had taken marriage to draw it out of her.

Ironic how it had taken shared vows that some might have thought were confining to set their hearts free to frolic like children, but unlike children, when Lis ended up in Edward's arms and he touched a kiss to her lips, that kiss lit a fire that burned inside them both, full of passion and yearning that was nowhere near innocent.

Wrapped up in everything that was Edward, Lis responded with everything that she had to give, forgetting her shyness for once in the fresh burst of longing, loving passion that erupted the moment his lips touched hers. It seemed inconceivable that, only a few weeks ago, she had been innocent of this feeling, and yet now she embraced it willingly, opening herself up to her husband without a second thought.

They knew each other enough that no more words needed to be said. Edward kissed her again and again, each kiss more passionate, more needy than the last, before finally simply taking her by the hand and leading her toward the stairs, pausing only momentarily to turn the CD player off and get the lights. This was a night he wanted to remember, a night he wanted her to remember - their wedding night, the most important night of their lives.

The most important night so far, at any rate. There would be other important nights, other dates and times they would remember for the rest of their lives, but tonight was special, too. Tonight, they had somehow gone from nebulous lovers to man and wife, caught up by the loving willingness of his family to do whatever it took to spread a little happiness through their various branches. Taken by the hand, Lis was content to follow, happy to walk in the footsteps of the first man - the only man - who had ever touched her heart so profoundly, still not quite able to believe that he truly was hers. Hers to love and to cherish, to protect, for all the years to come. Her kisses showed him that promise more eloquently than any words ever could, pouring her heart into him, trusting him to take better care of it than she ever could.

They had promised to take care of each other, to love each other for all the days of their lives, and Edward intended to do just that. Today, tonight, was just the start, and Edward intended to show her in no uncertain terms just how much he loved her in every way possible. He showed her with his kisses and caresses, with every loving gaze and soft smile, with words of love he never thought to say to anyone but her. He led her up the stairs to the room they shared, to the bed they shared, where he intended to make love to her for the first time as husband and wife, the first of many nights to come and to cherish in a lifetime of love.

Though they had been intimate before, Lis had never felt this level of longing, this sense of warm impatience to have and to hold, to touch and caress, to share with him everything she had in the most primal way she could. As the door fell shut behind them, she was already in his arms, hungry kisses painting his lips with her desire as her hands eased beneath the hang of his suit jacket to slip it from his shoulders.

He seemed in just as much a hurry to have her as she was to have him, shrugging his coat off and tossing it onto a chair as they exchanged feverish kisses. He wasn't quite sure how to get her out of that dress, but for now, he was content with her lips, even as his hands sought out a zipper or some sort of fastening at her back. Though there was no need to hurry, they both seemed hungry for the other, eager to join their bodies, just as their hearts and lives were joined.

The fastening he was looking for was at her neck, tucked beneath the fall of her hair, her back almost utterly bare already beneath the feverish splay of his hands. Her fingers worked quickly at his tie and buttons, wanting to feel his skin beneath her touch, inexpert as that touch was still. As she gasped for breath, soft words tumbled from her lips in the Spanish that came so easily to her tongue, promising him love, life, everything that she was, if only he loved her.

He was no expert at lovemaking, but what he lacked in experience, he more than made up for in effort. Thankfully, the dance helped ease his nerves, which gave him a little more confidence and stopped the shaking of his hands. He whispered back to her in her native Spanish, the words a little clumsy on his tongue. He was sure he would come to speak it better in time. His mouth covered hers as he eased the dress from her, pressing her closer to the bed until he could ease her onto her back. Though they were still half-dressed, that was remedied quickly enough, clothes tossed carelessly aside in a desperate need to feel warm flesh against warm flesh.

Just the mere fact that he was trying to answer her in the language that would always be her first port of call was enough to melt her in his arms, touched deeply by that sense of needing to make her comfortable, to make sure she felt loved, that seemed to crown moments like these in him. No longer so very shy, still she blushed as she took him into her arms, her own inexperience meeting his to create something beautifully their own in the tangled press of limbs and shared kisses. From one dance to another, it seemed, and each as fulfilling as the other.

He knew he wasn't as handsome as Jonathan or as rugged as Dominic, but none of that seemed to matter to Lis. He wasn't quite sure what it was she saw in him, nor did he care. Whatever it was, she was the first woman who had ever really managed to capture his heart, and how could she not' She was as lovely as the night, her kisses and caresses as soft as a summer breeze. He only hoped that he could love her the way that she deserved to be loved. He kissed her as if each one was the first, soft and tender and loving. It would take time to learn each other, to become skilled at this kind of dance, but together they would learn and together they would love, from this day forward for the rest of their lives.

Like all dances, it came to a climax, leaving them breathless and warm in each other's arms. Tucked close, Lis found herself toying with the ring on Edward's finger, charmed by its history. "I love you," she murmured to him, kissing the ring as she twisted about to curl her arms about his waist once again. "Do not doubt it, querido. There will never be a need."

He sighed softly as he took her in his arms, warm and content in the afterglow of their love. "As I love you, querida," he replied, in his awkward Spanish. "I shall love you with all the depth and breadth my soul has to offer, until time itself ceases to be." Okay, so maybe he wasn't a poet, but every now and then, he somehow managed a poetic verse or two. He sighed contentedly as he settled her against him, thinking there was no place he'd rather be than right here with her for the rest of his days. He knew it was selfish, but at that moment, he didn't care. He'd lived all his life giving himself to others; didn't he deserve just a small slice of happiness for himself?